Is that definitive? I don't know. Is a full desktop operating system good for Internet Tablets? No. Does this mean the Nokia tablets can choose between the awesome Maemo platform and the awesome Ubuntu Mobile platform? I certainly hope so!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Ubuntu on the Internet Tablets: Yes. Really.
Is that definitive? I don't know. Is a full desktop operating system good for Internet Tablets? No. Does this mean the Nokia tablets can choose between the awesome Maemo platform and the awesome Ubuntu Mobile platform? I certainly hope so!
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5 comments:
it's not really all that exciting. Compiling Ubuntu for ARM processors doesn't make it any more mobile-friendly (think Deblet). All it really means is that Ubuntu and ARM are capitalizing on the hard work already done by Mojo to get a lot of press time about something as simple as adding a new CPU architecture to the supported list. :)
I'll point you to Quim's comments on http://linuxuk.org/ubuntu_on_maemo and this thread: http://www.internettablettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24953
If anything, this is likely targeted at future ARM netbooks, nothing more (I'll remind you that Ubuntu Mobile is targetted at x86 devices, primarily MIDs).
ARM11 (like the OMAP 2420) uses v6 as architecture (ARMv6). The announcement is about ARMv7 and therefore for the newer Cortex series. So Ryan Abel is correct... as also has been mentioned in the comments: http://linuxuk.org/ubuntu_on_maemo#comment-254.
Actually, they're supporting everything down to armv5t (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ARM), so the binaries will run on armv6. Still, again, compiling for an architecture doesn't automatically give you good battery life or performance. ;)
I knew it was able to run on lower than Cortex (question remains if they 'support' it). In some cases this might be important (company or project-wise).
Besides being able to compile... and run it, te usability from another POV is important; touch interface is still an afterthought for Ubuntu. They are doing a good job at changing it, but for the form-factor of e.g. the NIT's I still think Maemo is better suited.
Side question: whatever happened to Nokia and their support for Ubuntu? http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS2097004728.html
http://mojo.handhelds.org/
It's still ongoing (Maemo Reconstructed is currently using Mojo packages http://wiki.maemo.org/Maemo_Reconstructed), and, honestly, Mojo has done most of the work. Ubuntu and ARM just seem to be leveraging that work to get some press time. . . .
Maemo Reconstructed is actually a lot more interesting here as far as an "Ubuntu platform on tablet devices" is concerned, as it's actually got the UI for finger-usage.
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